Maintaining a formidable online presence is an important part of running a successful business or building a devoted fan base. Social media outlets such as YouTube have given entrepreneurs, budding musicians and tech bloggers, among others, a chance to reach a vast, worldwide audience. Even if you upload premium content to your new YouTube channel, there's no guarantee that it will draw hundreds of thousands of views. To explode your YouTube viewership and keep viewers coming back for more, your video and account settings will need to be tweaked.

Engage "Autoplay" mode for your channel's featured video. Log in to your YouTube account, select "Videos & Playlists" from the top menu bar, and click the box that reads "Autoplay featured video." Once Autoplay is engaged, your featured video will automatically begin playing each time a visitor accesses your channel. This is a quick, simple way to generate views for that particular video.

Rotate your featured videos at regular intervals. Select "Videos & Playlists" and click "Featured Video" from the drop-down menu. Choose the video you wish to set as your featured content. Click "Save Changes" and refresh your browser window to view your new featured video. By changing your featured video often, you'll keep your channel fresh and interesting to new and returning viewers. Also, with Autoplay engaged, you'll rapidly rack up views for each video you feature on your channel's homepage.

Select relevant, highly trafficked keywords to describe your video. The world of social media and Web traffic relies on keywords, so it is important that you choose words that both describe your content and draw in viewers who perform a relevant search. Begin with a catchy, keyword-rich title that is written for human viewers, not search engines. When uploading a new video, you'll be asked to list searchable keywords. If you're uploading a documentary piece about skateboarders in Los Angeles, the terms "Los Angeles, California, Skateboard, Extreme Sports, Action Sports, Skate Culture" will help describe your work and draw in new viewers. Some of your keywords may not be directly related to your particular video, but these help to attract "fringe viewers," or those who simply stumble upon your channel and who may decide to return in the future.

Use other social media outlets to your advantage. Create a back link to your video by simply posting it on your Facebook wall and adding a few keywords. This published link, along with your keywords, can now be picked up by any search engine. Back linking works with any direct-to-Web publishing platform, including Twitter, Blogger and WordPress.

Permit embedding on all of your videos. When uploading a video, YouTube will ask if you would like to allow viewers to embed the content on other websites, such as social media pages, blogs or forums. Though some users decline this option to maintain the privacy of their content, doing so will detract from the traffic you're trying to generate. Checking the "Yes" option ensures that your video will be made available to thousands of viewers you may not have reached on your own. If your video is embedded on a popular blog, it will be made searchable, resulting in a massive boost in views and traffic to your channel.

Upload quality content. Though the above steps consist of simple tricks and techniques that will help bolster your viewership, the most important part of cultivating a following on YouTube is the video itself. Produce videos that help engage your viewer. Popular product reviews, software tutorials, comedy sketches, cooking tips, cover songs, and documentary or journalistic pieces are all highly trafficked genres on YouTube. Pick a topic and put your own personal, unique spin on it -- if your audience loves it, it will show in the numbers. Once you develop a devoted following, include bits of narration that hint toward the next video you'll upload. This will invite the viewer to think of your videos in a serial fashion, like their favorite television sitcom or crime drama.

Tips

Don't be discouraged if your views do not explode overnight. The Web moves quickly these days, but it may still take viewers a bit of time to catch on to your channel.

Pay close attention to the world of social media marketing by following blogs, tech news or subscribing to relevant RSS news feeds. Use new social media outlets to your advantage and always be thinking in terms of promotion for your channel.

Warning

Never upload content that is copyrighted or owned by anyone other than yourself. This may result in serious legal consequences and suspension or termination of your YouTube privileges.